Details released on pit bull attack in Council Bluffs

Council Bluffs police are releasing details of a weekend incident during which an elderly woman and her dog were attacked by a pit bull — and the attacking animal was killed by a passer-by.

Seventy-seven-year-old Ann Lyon says she was walking her dog Sunday afternoon when the pit bull lunged on her pet. Lyon says a man who was driving by saw what happened and came to her aid.

Lyon says, "This gentleman took him by the collar and tried to subdue him and it wouldn’t quit. He was hitting it with his fists and it still wouldn’t quit." Police say the man pulled out a pocketknife and stabbed the attacking dog to make it let go. The pit bull later died. Lyon says she was doing her best to protect her own dog from the vicious animal by covering it with her body. She says she didn’t see the attack coming.

"That dog came out of no where," Lyon says. "He knocked us both down before I knew what was happening." There is a pit bull ban in Council Bluffs but officers say the dog had all of its paperwork and was "legal" as it had been grandfathered in. No charges were filed against anyone involved.

Lyon is recovering from her injuries. She says her only regret is that she didn’t get to thank the man who possibly saved her life.